Renewable energy contributes over 22 per cent to India's installed power generation capacity. Although conventional fuels still dominate this segment, the share of renewable energy sources has been steadily increasing from about 8 per cent in 2009.

The New Delhi-based Teesta Urja was formed in 2005 with a mission to commission the 1,200 MW (6X200 MW) Teesta Stage - III Hydro Electric Project in a shortest possible time so that optimal benefits are accrued to the beneficiary states as well as to the state of Sikkim.

A Mechanical Engineer by qualification, Gurdeep Singh, CMD, NTPC, has over 28 years of experience in power generation sector. He started his career with NTPC and has worked at various levels in both Indian and multi-national companies such as Powergen, CLP, IDFC, CESC and AES.

Andhra Pradesh recently became the latest state to notify forecasting, scheduling and deviation settlement regulations for solar and wind power generation. It joins Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand, who have already announced these regulations.

Formulating policies is only the first step, the success of smart grids depends on the time-bound implementation of projects.
Technology enabled systems and solutions have become the driving force for electricity segment in the last few year.

In the past five years, coal power made up over two-thirds of capacity additions in India's generation, and currently accounts for more than 60 per cent of India's power capacity. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), India's coal demand will see the biggest growth over the next five years, despite a global slowdown.

Just think of power going off while an important surgery is taking place in a hospital and it will not get back for a day or two. The kind of disruption an electricity blackout arising from grid collapse can cause is enormous for different people at various places. Grid collapse is the worst-case scenario for any transmission utility too.